Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue

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0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains very strong language

0:00:06 > 0:00:10- Why sing?- Why do you sing?- Well, because I get to experience

0:00:10 > 0:00:14a lot of feelings, it's really a lot of fun. You get to feel all kinds of things

0:00:14 > 0:00:17that you can hardly find if you went to parties all year round

0:00:17 > 0:00:20and made it with everyone you ever wanted to.

0:00:20 > 0:00:22Because you get to feel things that are in your imagination

0:00:22 > 0:00:27and are the real truth. That's why I like music, because it's creative

0:00:27 > 0:00:30and, as it's happening, creates feelings.

0:00:30 > 0:00:33What could I feel if I attended your concert tonight?

0:00:33 > 0:00:37I'd like you to feel like standing up and jumping up and down in time with the music

0:00:37 > 0:00:41and get sweaty and just go with the music. Just go with it.

0:00:41 > 0:00:44Like, rock-and-roll's very rhythmic, that's what it's all about, you know.

0:00:44 > 0:00:46It's one, two, three, four.

0:00:46 > 0:00:48# Ye-ah

0:00:48 > 0:00:50# You thought you had found yourself a good girl

0:00:50 > 0:00:53# One who would love you and give you the world

0:00:53 > 0:00:56# Then you find out that you've been misused

0:00:56 > 0:00:58# Come to me, honey I'll do what you choose

0:00:58 > 0:01:02# I want you Well, tell mama all about it

0:01:02 > 0:01:05# You tell mama what you feel

0:01:05 > 0:01:08# Tell your mama, babe what you want

0:01:08 > 0:01:11# Tell your mama, babe what you need

0:01:11 > 0:01:13# What you want What you need

0:01:13 > 0:01:16# What you want, whoa

0:01:16 > 0:01:18# I'll make everything all right

0:01:18 > 0:01:22# I tell you When you get lonely... #

0:01:22 > 0:01:25I figure everybody does, huh?

0:01:25 > 0:01:27Because, as a matter of fact, everybody does.

0:01:27 > 0:01:31I'll tell you what you need, baby, when you get those strange thoughts in your head,

0:01:31 > 0:01:35you don't know where they came from, man. You get those strange, little weirdnesses

0:01:35 > 0:01:37happening to you, you don't know what they are.

0:01:37 > 0:01:39I'll tell you what you need.

0:01:39 > 0:01:41# You need a sweet loving mama, babe

0:01:41 > 0:01:44# Honey, a sweet talking mama, babe

0:01:44 > 0:01:46# You know, somebody to listen to you

0:01:46 > 0:01:49# Someone to want you Someone to hold you

0:01:49 > 0:01:51# Someone to need you Someone to use you

0:01:51 > 0:01:54# Someone to want you Someone to need you

0:01:54 > 0:01:56# Someone to hold you

0:01:56 > 0:01:59# You need a mama-ma-ma ma-ma mama, babe

0:01:59 > 0:02:02# Go to a mama-ma-ma-ma, yeah

0:02:02 > 0:02:04# Mama-ma-ma-ma-mama

0:02:04 > 0:02:07# Tell mama all about it

0:02:07 > 0:02:10# Tell mama all about it

0:02:10 > 0:02:13# What you need What you want

0:02:13 > 0:02:16# Anything I can do

0:02:16 > 0:02:18# Anything I can do

0:02:18 > 0:02:21# I'll be your mama, babe Yeah, your mama, babe

0:02:21 > 0:02:24# Whoa, your mama, babe Your mama, babe

0:02:24 > 0:02:27# Whoa, mama, babe Whoa, mama, babe

0:02:27 > 0:02:29# Wow! I'll make everything all right. #

0:02:44 > 0:02:46RAUCOUS CHEERING

0:02:52 > 0:02:57"Dear family, I managed to pass my 27th birthday

0:02:57 > 0:03:00"without really feeling it.

0:03:00 > 0:03:04"It's such a funny game.

0:03:04 > 0:03:07"Two years ago, I didn't even want to be in it.

0:03:07 > 0:03:11"No, that's not true. I've been looking around and I've noticed something.

0:03:11 > 0:03:14"After you reach a certain level of talent -

0:03:14 > 0:03:18"and quite a few have that talent - the deciding factor is ambition.

0:03:18 > 0:03:20"Or, as I see it, how much you really need.

0:03:20 > 0:03:24"Need to be loved and need to be proud of yourself.

0:03:25 > 0:03:28"And I guess that's what ambition is,

0:03:28 > 0:03:31"it's not all a depraved quest for position or money.

0:03:31 > 0:03:34"Maybe it's for love, lots of love.

0:03:34 > 0:03:36"Hah! Janis."

0:03:46 > 0:03:52Port Arthur - to a lot of people, it was a really good town to grow up in.

0:03:52 > 0:03:56I never thought so. Janis never thought so

0:03:56 > 0:04:01and she couldn't figure out how to make herself

0:04:01 > 0:04:03like everybody else.

0:04:04 > 0:04:05Thank goodness.

0:04:05 > 0:04:11# And if my love could take a walk... #

0:04:11 > 0:04:15Our parents, I'm not exactly sure how they actually met,

0:04:15 > 0:04:18but they started dating after mother had gone away to college

0:04:18 > 0:04:21and come back and started working.

0:04:21 > 0:04:25Daddy was a mechanical engineer, but he was able to get a job

0:04:25 > 0:04:30because at that time so many people were away fighting, you know.

0:04:30 > 0:04:34So he got a job at Texaco and he stayed there his entire working life.

0:04:34 > 0:04:37And he came home from work one day and told mother,

0:04:37 > 0:04:41"Let's do something for posterity."

0:04:41 > 0:04:44So, that's Janis being born in 1943.

0:04:57 > 0:05:04She joined the choir and they kicked her out of the choir.

0:05:05 > 0:05:09She wouldn't follow directions and they said, "You're out!"

0:05:17 > 0:05:22Like most women, Janis wanted to be beautiful and curvaceous and skinny

0:05:22 > 0:05:26like the pictures that she saw in magazines.

0:05:26 > 0:05:32And she saw herself, you know, gain weight and get chunky,

0:05:32 > 0:05:37her skin broke out and her features weren't that fine, beautiful female

0:05:37 > 0:05:39that we see in pictures everywhere.

0:05:42 > 0:05:47And so she had questions about her own desirability.

0:05:47 > 0:05:51# It don't make no difference, babe yeah

0:05:51 > 0:05:53# I better hold it now

0:05:53 > 0:05:55# I better need it, yeah

0:05:55 > 0:05:59# I better use it till the day I die... #

0:05:59 > 0:06:01She demanded to be different.

0:06:01 > 0:06:04You know, our parents had given us permission to do it

0:06:04 > 0:06:08and then weren't aware of what would happen if you did it.

0:06:08 > 0:06:12Janis was the first one in our family to find that out.

0:06:12 > 0:06:15That if you are rocking the boat

0:06:15 > 0:06:20you might get noticed and she rocked the boat as often as she could.

0:06:20 > 0:06:21She liked rocking the boat.

0:06:24 > 0:06:28The world was changing and I think that Janis's interpretation

0:06:28 > 0:06:33of what being good was included things that a lot of people

0:06:33 > 0:06:35in the South weren't yet ready to include.

0:06:35 > 0:06:39She said, "I think integration is the right thing to do."

0:06:39 > 0:06:43Well, our hometown had an active KKK chapter

0:06:43 > 0:06:49and what happened was she was harassed by some guys in her class,

0:06:49 > 0:06:52they threw pennies at her, they called her names

0:06:52 > 0:06:57and she became a target for the last three years of high school.

0:07:02 > 0:07:06She started dressing differently, wearing loafers without socks

0:07:06 > 0:07:11and tight skirts. Her hair was becoming more like a beatnik

0:07:11 > 0:07:16and still there was an aspect of her sexuality and her personality

0:07:16 > 0:07:20that was at odds. Where does she go? What does she do?

0:07:22 > 0:07:26She was pushing the limits and women weren't supposed to swear

0:07:26 > 0:07:29and women were supposed to be demure

0:07:29 > 0:07:33and not know that anything existed below their waistlines.

0:07:33 > 0:07:37I met her in high school and she wouldn't go away.

0:07:37 > 0:07:40She was always calling us up, one of us or the other

0:07:40 > 0:07:43and say, "What are you doing tonight? Where are we going?"

0:07:46 > 0:07:52She was a lot of trouble. We went to Louisiana and she would start fights,

0:07:52 > 0:07:55which we didn't want started because the Cajuns were known

0:07:55 > 0:08:00good fighters, but she got a kick out of it just playing the bad girl.

0:08:00 > 0:08:04She wasn't a bad girl, but she just liked to bait the men.

0:08:04 > 0:08:09You know, we would deny all knowledge of her

0:08:09 > 0:08:11and barely escaped with our lives.

0:08:11 > 0:08:14That made her real dangerous to take to a bar.

0:08:22 > 0:08:25I mean, she was amusing. So, we took her to the beach with us.

0:08:25 > 0:08:29She borrowed some records which were obscure.

0:08:29 > 0:08:32One of them was a record by Odetta.

0:08:32 > 0:08:34# Love

0:08:34 > 0:08:37# Oh, love Oh, careless love... #

0:08:37 > 0:08:41All of a sudden, she busted into a perfect imitation of Odetta

0:08:41 > 0:08:45on the record and everybody was just stunned.

0:08:46 > 0:08:51This little troublesome kid, you know, can sing that well.

0:08:53 > 0:08:56# Oh, love Oh, love

0:08:56 > 0:09:00# Oh, careless love

0:09:01 > 0:09:07# Oh, love, oh, love Oh, careless love

0:09:09 > 0:09:13# Well, love Oh-oh, love

0:09:13 > 0:09:16# Oh, careless love... #

0:09:22 > 0:09:27This particular night, Janis said let's go see this wonderful Austin

0:09:27 > 0:09:29you're always talking about.

0:09:30 > 0:09:35So, we pulled in at 5:30 in the morning

0:09:35 > 0:09:37and you could hear music...

0:09:38 > 0:09:42..and it wasn't recorded music, it was live music

0:09:42 > 0:09:47and Janis grabbed my arm and she said, "Jack, I'm going to like it here."

0:09:55 > 0:09:59Well, that's when I discovered that I had an incredibly loud voice.

0:09:59 > 0:10:02So, I started singing blues, because that was always what I liked.

0:10:02 > 0:10:05And, you know, I got a bluegrass band,

0:10:05 > 0:10:09played hillbilly music in Austin, Texas, for free beer.

0:10:09 > 0:10:12I used to sing in folk clubs just for goofs.

0:10:14 > 0:10:17We called ourselves the Waller Creek Boys...

0:10:19 > 0:10:23..and instantly Janis became one of the boys.

0:10:27 > 0:10:30People just stared open-mouthed

0:10:30 > 0:10:33and she was not ever accepted, really,

0:10:33 > 0:10:35except by the folk community.

0:10:38 > 0:10:42Growing up, her peers picked on her and bullied her

0:10:42 > 0:10:46and by the time she got to Austin and by the time I knew her,

0:10:46 > 0:10:51she had already been profoundly hurt over and over.

0:10:51 > 0:10:54And so in Austin, it was the same way.

0:10:57 > 0:11:01Every year, the fraternities held a contest

0:11:01 > 0:11:05and people could nominate someone to be ugliest man

0:11:05 > 0:11:10and someone nominated Janis and all these jerks voted for her...

0:11:12 > 0:11:14..and it crushed her.

0:11:16 > 0:11:21Saddest thing I ever saw, you know. It really was.

0:11:24 > 0:11:28Till that point, I'd never seen Janis cry.

0:11:28 > 0:11:30Janis had a very tough exterior.

0:11:31 > 0:11:35But it really got her bad

0:11:35 > 0:11:38and I said, "Janis, they don't mean anything to you.

0:11:38 > 0:11:43"They're...They're not even in your class."

0:11:43 > 0:11:48It became increasingly harder to fit into a group of angry,

0:11:48 > 0:11:50angry men who liked to pick on her.

0:11:53 > 0:11:55Even though she ran around with a tight group of friends who

0:11:55 > 0:11:59were into books and ideas, she needed to go out to where

0:11:59 > 0:12:02the people were that wrote those books.

0:12:02 > 0:12:05Where the people were that sang those songs.

0:12:05 > 0:12:07Where does she go? What does she do?

0:12:10 > 0:12:15# I just had to get out of Texas, baby

0:12:15 > 0:12:19# Lord, it was bringing me down... #

0:12:19 > 0:12:21When did you come to San Francisco?

0:12:21 > 0:12:25In about '63 was when I couldn't stand Texas any more

0:12:25 > 0:12:28and I went to California, because it's a lot freer

0:12:28 > 0:12:32and you can do what you want to do and nobody bugs you.

0:12:32 > 0:12:36'15,000 San Franciscans protest segregation in Birmingham.

0:12:36 > 0:12:41'Negro and white citizens marching in unity for equality in San Francisco.'

0:12:44 > 0:12:47We used to all hang out at a bar called the Anxious Asp

0:12:47 > 0:12:49on Green Street, North Beach.

0:12:51 > 0:12:54We went to a party one night and, you know, with a little bit of wine

0:12:54 > 0:12:57and a little bit of, you know, whatever,

0:12:57 > 0:13:02We kind of got to talking and two weeks later she moved in with me.

0:13:05 > 0:13:07Sometime we went down to Monterey

0:13:07 > 0:13:09and she would sing in the hootenannies

0:13:09 > 0:13:13and she would win tickets for us to get to the main arena.

0:13:13 > 0:13:17One time, we went there and there was Bob Dylan, her idol.

0:13:17 > 0:13:22And she walks up to him and she said, "Oh, Bob. I just love you!

0:13:22 > 0:13:25"You know, I'm going to be famous one day." He said, "Yeah.

0:13:25 > 0:13:27"We're all going to be famous." I'll never forget that.

0:13:27 > 0:13:29SHE LAUGHS

0:13:31 > 0:13:34She definitely felt the blues.

0:13:34 > 0:13:38Bessie Smith and all the blues singers, she loved those people.

0:13:38 > 0:13:43And I think she emulated them in the sense of wanting to be like them.

0:13:43 > 0:13:44You know, to have the pain.

0:13:44 > 0:13:47I guess that's why she drank like she did and took drugs

0:13:47 > 0:13:50because that's all part of the whole picture.

0:13:54 > 0:13:57She definitely needed people to tell her how great she was

0:13:57 > 0:14:00and she needed that stroking all the time.

0:14:02 > 0:14:05I don't think she was with girls to shock people, I think

0:14:05 > 0:14:09she was with girls because that's what she felt at the moment.

0:14:09 > 0:14:13And I think she was totally in a conflict all the time with herself.

0:14:13 > 0:14:14Constantly.

0:14:14 > 0:14:20And she was unhappy, she was quite unhappy and I think on the stage,

0:14:20 > 0:14:23it made her feel that she was somebody, you know.

0:14:23 > 0:14:26That she had something to offer.

0:14:26 > 0:14:28I said, "I just think this is not working for both of us,

0:14:28 > 0:14:31"you want to go off and do things with other people

0:14:31 > 0:14:33"and I'm not strong enough to handle that."

0:14:35 > 0:14:39She got with this English fella and they were into shooting up

0:14:39 > 0:14:41and stuff like that and that was never my style.

0:14:41 > 0:14:44You know, I could just never get into that.

0:14:44 > 0:14:50Janis was in North Beach and she developed an intense relationship

0:14:50 > 0:14:53with Peter de Blanc, then Janis got into methedrine.

0:14:54 > 0:14:57Janis told me that they were living in that building

0:14:57 > 0:14:59behind Tommy's joint

0:14:59 > 0:15:02and had not a stick of furniture

0:15:02 > 0:15:04and Peter was just sitting there for hours on end

0:15:04 > 0:15:07throwing a Super Ball against the wall and catching it...

0:15:09 > 0:15:11..and she was skin and bones.

0:15:13 > 0:15:16She used - overused - lost weight,

0:15:16 > 0:15:20got so strung out that her group of friends

0:15:20 > 0:15:24held a party and they passed a hat to get enough money

0:15:24 > 0:15:27to put her on a Greyhound bus and send her back home.

0:15:34 > 0:15:38# A woman left lonely... #

0:15:38 > 0:15:42She and Peter decided that they both needed to get their lives cleaned up

0:15:42 > 0:15:45and would go to their home towns and get their lives together

0:15:45 > 0:15:47and then they'd get together and get married.

0:15:47 > 0:15:53# She'll do crazy things, yeah-eh

0:15:53 > 0:15:57# On lonely occasions... #

0:15:57 > 0:16:00"Dear Peter, well, I'm home now.

0:16:00 > 0:16:03"I have your picture on the desk where I do my homework

0:16:03 > 0:16:06"and everyone in the family has seen it at least three times.

0:16:06 > 0:16:08"Everyone agrees you're handsome,

0:16:08 > 0:16:10"I really love you.

0:16:10 > 0:16:14"In attempting to find a semblance of a pattern in my life,

0:16:14 > 0:16:16"I find I have gone out with great vigour every time

0:16:16 > 0:16:19"and gotten really fucked up.

0:16:19 > 0:16:24"All I did was be wild, drink constantly, fucked people, sang.

0:16:24 > 0:16:27"In San Francisco, kind of wanting to find an old man and be happy,

0:16:27 > 0:16:31"but I didn't. I just found Linda and became a meth freak.

0:16:33 > 0:16:38"Jesus fucking Christ, I want to be happy so fucking bad."

0:16:38 > 0:16:43# ..for granted, Lord, yeah

0:16:43 > 0:16:46# Honey, she doesn't understand

0:16:46 > 0:16:49# No, no... #

0:16:49 > 0:16:53He came home at one point and met the family

0:16:53 > 0:16:57and asked our father formally for her hand in marriage.

0:16:57 > 0:17:02"Well, now it's Saturday and your letter didn't come.

0:17:02 > 0:17:06"So, I'm very sad and moping around the house and mother's worried.

0:17:06 > 0:17:08"Baby, what's happening?

0:17:08 > 0:17:12"You could really be hurting me and, hell, I couldn't tell.

0:17:12 > 0:17:14"Am I still happy?

0:17:14 > 0:17:17"Do I still have you?"

0:17:17 > 0:17:19She was embarrassed that he wasn't going to show up

0:17:19 > 0:17:23after she had told her mom and dad that he was.

0:17:23 > 0:17:26He was evidently living with a woman who had gotten pregnant

0:17:26 > 0:17:29and Janis only discovered that when she happened to call him

0:17:29 > 0:17:32and this woman answered the telephone.

0:17:38 > 0:17:39Did you ever go back to Port Arthur?

0:17:39 > 0:17:42I went back once, it was a bummer.

0:17:42 > 0:17:46I ain't going back again! No, it's no good.

0:17:48 > 0:17:53Chet asked me to come and see his new band and that's when

0:17:53 > 0:17:56I heard that Big Brother was auditioning women.

0:17:56 > 0:17:59So, I went by his house and said, you know, "I'm going to go home

0:17:59 > 0:18:02"I can ask about Janis, if you like."

0:18:02 > 0:18:05And she found out that I was there and we spent the whole day

0:18:05 > 0:18:09talking about what was going on since she had left

0:18:09 > 0:18:11and we should go and see a rock and roll band

0:18:11 > 0:18:14and there's one playing around the corner.

0:18:14 > 0:18:17Didn't have anything to drink because she was sober

0:18:17 > 0:18:22and we listened to, I think, two songs and she turned to me

0:18:22 > 0:18:27and she said, "That's what I want to do!" So I said, "OK. Let's go figure this out."

0:18:27 > 0:18:31He said, "I'm not going to go and take you until you tell your parents."

0:18:31 > 0:18:35He waited in the car while Janis went in to tell our parents.

0:18:35 > 0:18:40Janis went in and said she was going to Austin for the weekend and left

0:18:40 > 0:18:43and went to San Francisco.

0:18:43 > 0:18:47# I guess I'm going to make it somehow

0:18:47 > 0:18:49# But you made nothing with me darling... #

0:18:49 > 0:18:53"Mother and Dad, with a great deal of trepidation,

0:18:53 > 0:18:54"I bring the news -

0:18:54 > 0:18:56"I'm in San Francisco.

0:18:56 > 0:18:59"Now, let me explain.

0:18:59 > 0:19:03"Chet Helms is an old friend, now he's Mr Big in SF.

0:19:03 > 0:19:05"He encouraged me to come out,

0:19:05 > 0:19:08"it seems the whole city had gone rock and roll and it has.

0:19:08 > 0:19:13"And he assured me fame and fortune, so I came.

0:19:13 > 0:19:15"I'm so sorry.

0:19:15 > 0:19:18"My love to Mike and Laura. Love, Janis."

0:19:21 > 0:19:24MUSIC: Down On Me by Big Brother and The Holding Company

0:19:38 > 0:19:42# Looks like everybody in this whole round world

0:19:44 > 0:19:47# They're down on me Come on... #

0:19:47 > 0:19:50I would pick her up and I'd drive her back to where she was staying.

0:19:50 > 0:19:54I mean, she was always like, "I don't know whether this

0:19:54 > 0:19:58"is going to work out. I probably... I should go back to Texas.

0:19:58 > 0:20:02"I don't know if I should do this." She had a lot of misgivings.

0:20:02 > 0:20:05She was very afraid of drugs.

0:20:07 > 0:20:11She said, I don't ever want to see anybody shooting drugs.

0:20:11 > 0:20:15I can't stand to see that, because if I see that,

0:20:15 > 0:20:17it's just going to take her out so much.

0:20:17 > 0:20:21She came out to San Francisco and had this coffee-house career.

0:20:21 > 0:20:24She almost died that time, she lost all this weight

0:20:24 > 0:20:26and she went back to Texas

0:20:26 > 0:20:30and, you know, her mother said, "If you ever go back out there again, you're going to die."

0:20:42 > 0:20:45# When you see a hand that's held out towards you

0:20:45 > 0:20:47# Give it some love... #

0:20:47 > 0:20:50- Did your parents encourage you to sing at all?- Oh, no, no, no.

0:20:50 > 0:20:53They wanted me to be a schoolteacher, you know.

0:20:53 > 0:20:55Like all parents.

0:20:55 > 0:20:58But I just started singing when I was about 17.

0:20:58 > 0:21:00I listened to a lot of music first, you know,

0:21:00 > 0:21:03and one day I started singing and I could sing. It was like,

0:21:03 > 0:21:05it was a surprise.

0:21:05 > 0:21:07To say the least.

0:21:07 > 0:21:10# Said jack o'diamonds Said jack o'diamonds

0:21:10 > 0:21:13# Whoa-oh, I know you of old

0:21:13 > 0:21:17# Honey, you robbed me out of my silver

0:21:17 > 0:21:20# And out of all my gold... #

0:21:20 > 0:21:23"Dear Mother and Dad, Daddy brought up the college issue, which is good,

0:21:23 > 0:21:27"because I probably would have continued avoiding it till it went away.

0:21:27 > 0:21:29"I don't think I can go back now.

0:21:29 > 0:21:33"I don't know all the reasons, but I just feel this is a truer feeling, true to me.

0:21:33 > 0:21:36"I don't feel like I'm lying now."

0:21:37 > 0:21:41# Now see the cuckoo she's a cruel bird

0:21:41 > 0:21:44# And she warbles when she flies... #

0:21:44 > 0:21:46"I have to see this through first. If I don't, I'd always be

0:21:46 > 0:21:49"thinking about singing and being good and known

0:21:49 > 0:21:51"and feel like I cheated myself, you know."

0:21:51 > 0:21:54# Well, say goodbye Well, say goodbye

0:21:54 > 0:21:56# Ooh-hoo-hoo... #

0:21:58 > 0:22:03"Weak as it is, I apologise for being so just plain bad at the family.

0:22:03 > 0:22:06"I'm just sorry.

0:22:06 > 0:22:08"Love, Janis."

0:22:11 > 0:22:14Folk blues, you know. I was a folk singer, you know,

0:22:14 > 0:22:19and sang blues mostly. Country blues, old-time blues, slow...

0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Didn't you have a job soldering once?- Soldering?

0:22:22 > 0:22:24No, a keypunch operator.

0:22:24 > 0:22:27I was a waitress in a bowling alley once, too.

0:22:27 > 0:22:31Playing is the life, the most just fun there is.

0:22:31 > 0:22:35Feeling things and really getting into it. That's fun.

0:22:35 > 0:22:37# Amazing Grace

0:22:37 > 0:22:40# Well, how sweet the sound

0:22:40 > 0:22:43# That saved a sinning wretch like me... #

0:22:43 > 0:22:48At that time, there was definitely a sense of camaraderie.

0:22:48 > 0:22:51If you knew the Grateful Dead had a house on Ashbury, you know,

0:22:51 > 0:22:55it wouldn't be unlikely that if you were in the neighbourhood,

0:22:55 > 0:22:57you'd just drop by and hang out with those guys

0:22:57 > 0:23:00and smoke a joint or something like that.

0:23:00 > 0:23:03# A sinning wretch like me... #

0:23:03 > 0:23:06We were all, sort of, riding the same wave, in a sense.

0:23:06 > 0:23:10All part of the same scene and all shared, in some ways, the same values

0:23:10 > 0:23:15that we were part of this counterculture revolutionary music thing

0:23:15 > 0:23:17that was going to, you know, change the world.

0:23:17 > 0:23:22# Na-na-na-na Na-na-naaa, woo... #

0:23:24 > 0:23:29She was just funny, unassuming, sexy,

0:23:29 > 0:23:32and sort of a, a kind of like,

0:23:32 > 0:23:34almost a sort of Huck Finn innocence to her.

0:23:34 > 0:23:38The absolute child-woman ideal of The Haight.

0:23:38 > 0:23:42Well, I met Janis as a romantic interest

0:23:42 > 0:23:46for one of my bandmates, Pigpen, Ron McKernan.

0:23:46 > 0:23:48We called him the Mighty Pig.

0:23:48 > 0:23:52It was an on again, off again little affair that they had.

0:23:52 > 0:23:56And on the nights that Janis would come over and visit,

0:23:56 > 0:24:02I got very little sleep because Janis was not real quiet in the rack.

0:24:02 > 0:24:05So, all night long, it would be, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

0:24:05 > 0:24:09All that kind of stuff. I mean, endlessly.

0:24:09 > 0:24:11"Isn't Pigpen cute?

0:24:11 > 0:24:14"They make Pigpen T-shirts now with his picture on it for fans.

0:24:14 > 0:24:16"I have one in red.

0:24:16 > 0:24:19"Those people are all friends of mine, aren't they amazing?

0:24:19 > 0:24:22"The people with stars after their names are members of the band.

0:24:22 > 0:24:26"I'm in the back, on the left, really an amazing picture.

0:24:26 > 0:24:29"They weren't dressed up, they looked that way all the time.

0:24:29 > 0:24:32"Now, taken in perspective, I'm not so far out at all, eh?"

0:24:40 > 0:24:42There was a party, there was a party in the city

0:24:42 > 0:24:47in an apartment on California Street.

0:24:47 > 0:24:50Someone opened this bottle of this stuff that is called Cold Duck.

0:24:50 > 0:24:54- You don't see it around much. - Sparkling wine.- Sparkling wine.

0:24:54 > 0:24:57And it started to go around the room and people were taking chugs of it

0:24:57 > 0:25:01and Janis took a big swig of it and someone said to Janis, "Oh, man.

0:25:01 > 0:25:03"You must really want to get high."

0:25:03 > 0:25:05And she said, "What?!"

0:25:05 > 0:25:10And someone said, "Yeah, there is, like, 68 hits of acid in that bottle."

0:25:10 > 0:25:14Anyway, she ran into the bathroom and tried to throw up.

0:25:14 > 0:25:20# They don't forget it Love is their whole... #

0:25:20 > 0:25:25But she got very high anyway and we went from this party to The Fillmore.

0:25:25 > 0:25:27# Have a little tenderness

0:25:27 > 0:25:29# Yeah

0:25:29 > 0:25:30# All you got to do is

0:25:30 > 0:25:32# Everybody just has to

0:25:32 > 0:25:34# Get on up, get on up

0:25:34 > 0:25:35# Get on up, get on up

0:25:35 > 0:25:37# Now get on up

0:25:37 > 0:25:39# I got to... #

0:25:39 > 0:25:40And Otis Redding was, I think,

0:25:40 > 0:25:43in his second night and it was his second show. They did two shows.

0:25:43 > 0:25:45So there weren't a lot of people there.

0:25:45 > 0:25:47And I remember sitting with her.

0:25:47 > 0:25:50We sat down in the middle of the floor

0:25:50 > 0:25:53and Otis Redding came out with his band.

0:25:53 > 0:25:55# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

0:25:55 > 0:25:57# You got to, got to, got to... #

0:25:58 > 0:26:01I think when she saw him and saw the way he moved

0:26:01 > 0:26:03and how he interpreted a song, I really think

0:26:03 > 0:26:04it very much affected her.

0:26:04 > 0:26:08I mean, literally, she'd start doing this, "Gotta, gotta, gotta,"

0:26:08 > 0:26:09she stole that.

0:26:09 > 0:26:12# Got to, got to, got to

0:26:14 > 0:26:15# Oh... #

0:26:15 > 0:26:19Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, they are so subtle,

0:26:19 > 0:26:23they can milk you with two notes.

0:26:23 > 0:26:26They could go no further than from A to B

0:26:26 > 0:26:30and they could make you feel like they've told you the whole universe.

0:26:30 > 0:26:33You know? And Otis, oh, Otis.

0:26:33 > 0:26:36My man. But, I mean, I don't know that yet.

0:26:36 > 0:26:41All I've got now is strength but maybe if I keep singing,

0:26:41 > 0:26:43maybe I'll get it. That's what I think.

0:26:48 > 0:26:52In the very beginning, she didn't take over as,

0:26:52 > 0:26:54"I'm the singer, I'm the lead singer."

0:26:54 > 0:26:58She really tried to integrate into the band and be part of it.

0:26:58 > 0:27:01The big turning point was Monterey Pop.

0:27:04 > 0:27:07A very good friend of mine said,

0:27:07 > 0:27:10"You've got to come to the Monterey Pop Festival.

0:27:10 > 0:27:12"There's never been a pop festival."

0:27:14 > 0:27:17You know you're going to have a great time - it's a weekend,

0:27:17 > 0:27:19it's in Monterey, California.

0:27:19 > 0:27:22Simon and Garfunkel were going to perform there.

0:27:22 > 0:27:23That's all I knew about.

0:27:24 > 0:27:30So I came there with my khaki pants and a tennis sweater.

0:27:32 > 0:27:37And...I was astonished by everything that I saw.

0:27:38 > 0:27:42I got a call from Lou Adler, who was the producer of Monterey Pop.

0:27:42 > 0:27:46He was also the manager of the Mamas & the Papas.

0:27:46 > 0:27:49He told me, "There's a whole new Monterey Pop Festival.

0:27:49 > 0:27:51"Will Big Brother come?"

0:27:52 > 0:27:53I saw the future.

0:28:05 > 0:28:07They offered me a number and I went for it.

0:28:07 > 0:28:09I didn't give a damn about the money.

0:28:09 > 0:28:13I knew that this was going to be a monster.

0:28:18 > 0:28:22So I vividly remember sitting in the grounds there, being

0:28:22 > 0:28:28surrounded by this unusual crowd and then they announced the group.

0:28:28 > 0:28:30Three or four years ago,

0:28:30 > 0:28:35I ran into a chick in Texas by the name of Janis Joplin...

0:28:35 > 0:28:38APPLAUSE

0:28:38 > 0:28:41..and I heard her sing and Janis and I hitchhiked to the West Coast.

0:28:42 > 0:28:46A lot of things have gone down since that time but it gives me

0:28:46 > 0:28:51a great deal of pride to present, today, the finished product

0:28:51 > 0:28:55of three or four years of work - Big Brother and The Holding Company.

0:28:55 > 0:28:56CHEERING

0:28:56 > 0:28:58# Knock you, rock you

0:28:58 > 0:29:00# We're going to sock it to you now... #

0:29:00 > 0:29:03Cass was sitting there in one of the rows

0:29:03 > 0:29:06and I kind of had an eye on her during Janis

0:29:06 > 0:29:07because they had been

0:29:07 > 0:29:11a little critical because they were Los Angelenos.

0:29:11 > 0:29:13And the Los Angelenos

0:29:13 > 0:29:16were somewhat critical of the San Franciscans,

0:29:16 > 0:29:17in terms of the bands.

0:29:17 > 0:29:21And so I kind of wanted to watch her when Janis sang.

0:29:24 > 0:29:28# Mmmm

0:29:28 > 0:29:32# Sitting down by my window

0:29:32 > 0:29:37# Just looking out at the rain

0:29:44 > 0:29:46# Something came along

0:29:46 > 0:29:49# Honey, grabbed a hold of me

0:29:49 > 0:29:53# And it felt like a ball and chain... #

0:29:55 > 0:29:56SHE SCREAMS # Last time

0:29:59 > 0:30:03# And I say oh-whoa-whoa

0:30:03 > 0:30:06# Honey, this can't be

0:30:06 > 0:30:11# This can't be in vain

0:30:11 > 0:30:14# No, no, no, no, no

0:30:14 > 0:30:15# No, no

0:30:16 > 0:30:21# And I say oh-whoa-whoa

0:30:21 > 0:30:23# Honey, this can't be

0:30:23 > 0:30:26# B-b-b-b-b-be, be, be, be

0:30:26 > 0:30:28# In vain

0:30:28 > 0:30:30# No, no No, no, no, no

0:30:32 > 0:30:33# Oh

0:30:33 > 0:30:37# And I want someone that can tell me

0:30:37 > 0:30:38# Come on

0:30:38 > 0:30:40# Tell me why

0:30:40 > 0:30:42# Oh, tell me why

0:30:42 > 0:30:44# Oh, people tell me why love

0:30:44 > 0:30:47# Honey, why love is like

0:30:47 > 0:30:51# Well, it's like a ball and

0:30:51 > 0:30:58# And a chai-ai-ai-ai-ain. #

0:30:59 > 0:31:02CHEERING

0:31:34 > 0:31:38Once she caught real recognition at the Monterey Pop Festival, I think

0:31:38 > 0:31:42she began to see what the possibilities were

0:31:42 > 0:31:45and the possibilities were somewhat over-the-top.

0:31:50 > 0:31:56"Dear Mother, at last a tranquil day and time to write all the good news.

0:31:56 > 0:31:59"I'm now safely moved into my new room in our beautiful house

0:31:59 > 0:32:01"in the country.

0:32:01 > 0:32:04"Gosh, I can't seem to find anything else to talk about.

0:32:04 > 0:32:07"This band is my whole life now.

0:32:07 > 0:32:10"I really am totally committed and I dig it.

0:32:10 > 0:32:12"I wanted to send you these clippings.

0:32:12 > 0:32:15"Since Monterey, all this has come about.

0:32:15 > 0:32:19"Did Port Arthur News have anything on these? If so, please send.

0:32:19 > 0:32:22"I just may be a star some day.

0:32:22 > 0:32:25"You know, it's funny, as it gets closer and more probable, being

0:32:25 > 0:32:30"a star is really losing its meaning but whatever "it" means, I'm ready.

0:32:30 > 0:32:32"Things are going so well for me personally.

0:32:32 > 0:32:36"I have a boyfriend, he's head of Country Joe and the Fish,

0:32:36 > 0:32:37"a band from Berkeley.

0:32:37 > 0:32:41"He's a Capricorn like me and is 25 and, so far,

0:32:41 > 0:32:42"we're getting along fine.

0:32:42 > 0:32:45"Everyone in the rock scene just thinks it's the cutest thing

0:32:45 > 0:32:48"they've ever seen and it is rather cute, actually."

0:32:50 > 0:32:54We were never in love with each other. No.

0:32:55 > 0:32:58No, there was no sizzle going on.

0:32:58 > 0:33:03We were good friends. We were both control freaks, both lead singers.

0:33:03 > 0:33:07There was a maternal, feminine side of her

0:33:07 > 0:33:10that never was allowed to grow.

0:33:10 > 0:33:13She was really trying hard, you know?

0:33:13 > 0:33:15And her mother was coming to town.

0:33:15 > 0:33:17She wanted to cook chow mein for her mother.

0:33:17 > 0:33:21She was so worried that her mother would like her apartment and

0:33:21 > 0:33:26Seidman had just made that poster of her naked with the necklaces.

0:33:26 > 0:33:27We put them all up on the wall.

0:33:30 > 0:33:34We went out to visit her, the summer of love, as a family.

0:33:34 > 0:33:36My brother and I were the only teenagers

0:33:36 > 0:33:38who probably went out with their parents.

0:33:38 > 0:33:39We're going to see Janis,

0:33:39 > 0:33:42we're walking down the street, she's showing us around.

0:33:42 > 0:33:44I was so excited.

0:33:44 > 0:33:46Then we went to The Avalon Ballroom

0:33:46 > 0:33:50and Big Brother was not on the bill that night.

0:33:50 > 0:33:53But they went on and did three or four songs.

0:33:53 > 0:33:56Moby Grape let them have a set because Janis' parents were there.

0:33:58 > 0:34:01When we were getting ready to leave,

0:34:01 > 0:34:05I remember overhearing one of my parents tell the other one,

0:34:05 > 0:34:08"You know, dear, I don't think we're going to have

0:34:08 > 0:34:10"much influence any more."

0:34:16 > 0:34:22I think that her own telling of her story was about the ability

0:34:22 > 0:34:25to make your life fit your values.

0:34:25 > 0:34:30And she found that opportunity in the music world of the 1960s.

0:34:35 > 0:34:39The social acceptance that she'd always wanted was there

0:34:39 > 0:34:42and it just propelled her forward.

0:34:42 > 0:34:47# Come on, come on come on, come on, come on

0:34:47 > 0:34:50# Didn't I make you feel

0:34:50 > 0:34:55# Like you were the only one man? #

0:34:55 > 0:35:01It felt so fresh and so different for someone who'd been an outcast.

0:35:01 > 0:35:03# A woman possibly can?

0:35:03 > 0:35:05# Honey, you know I did

0:35:05 > 0:35:08# And each time I tell myself that I, well

0:35:08 > 0:35:10# I think I've had enough

0:35:10 > 0:35:15# I'm going to show you, baby that a woman can be tough

0:35:15 > 0:35:21# I want you to come on, come on come on, come on

0:35:21 > 0:35:22# And take it

0:35:22 > 0:35:27# Take another little piece of my heart now, baby

0:35:27 > 0:35:28# Break it

0:35:28 > 0:35:31# Break another little bit of my heart

0:35:31 > 0:35:33# Oh, yeah

0:35:33 > 0:35:34# Have a

0:35:34 > 0:35:38# Have another little piece of my heart now, baby

0:35:39 > 0:35:44# You know you got it if it makes you feel good. #

0:35:45 > 0:35:48You got another manager, Albert Grossman,

0:35:48 > 0:35:51who also manages Bob Dylan.

0:35:51 > 0:35:52Yeah. He's better.

0:35:54 > 0:35:57"Dear Mother, as of yesterday afternoon, we are

0:35:57 > 0:36:01"officially with Columbia. Wow, I'm so lucky.

0:36:01 > 0:36:05"25, 25, 25, it's all too incredible.

0:36:05 > 0:36:08"I just fumbled around being a mixed-up kid

0:36:08 > 0:36:09"and then fell into this.

0:36:09 > 0:36:13"Finally it looks like something is going to work for me. Incredible."

0:36:22 > 0:36:27"February 20th, 1968. Dear Mother, our record is a success story

0:36:27 > 0:36:28"in itself.

0:36:28 > 0:36:30"We've got a gold album in three days.

0:36:30 > 0:36:34"And the most fantastic thing of all happened at the Rose Bowl.

0:36:34 > 0:36:36"The cops wouldn't let the kids off the grass near us and,

0:36:36 > 0:36:39"all of a sudden, they broke, just like a wave,

0:36:39 > 0:36:41"and swarmed onto the field.

0:36:41 > 0:36:43"They were pulling on my clothes, my beads,

0:36:43 > 0:36:45"calling, 'Janis, Janis, we love you.' "

0:36:46 > 0:36:50# Have another little piece of my heart now, baby

0:36:52 > 0:36:56# You know you got it if it makes you feel good. #

0:36:58 > 0:37:02She had a sense that, as long as people gave her the stage,

0:37:02 > 0:37:03she would be a winner.

0:37:05 > 0:37:07CHEERING

0:37:12 > 0:37:16Sit down, boys. Come on, boys. Let's sit down.

0:37:16 > 0:37:18There we are, sitting down.

0:37:20 > 0:37:21Fantastic.

0:37:22 > 0:37:26Is there a San Francisco sound? And, if so, what is it

0:37:26 > 0:37:27and how did it start?

0:37:27 > 0:37:30The thing that makes what they call the San Francisco

0:37:30 > 0:37:32music scene, as far as I'm concerned,

0:37:32 > 0:37:34is, like, first of all, the freedom to create here.

0:37:34 > 0:37:37You know, for some reason, like, a lot of musicians ended up here

0:37:37 > 0:37:40and ended up together and were at complete freedom to do whatever

0:37:40 > 0:37:43they wanted to until they came up with their own kind of music.

0:37:43 > 0:37:45What do you think, Sam?

0:37:45 > 0:37:47SHE CACKLES

0:37:55 > 0:37:57That's what we call love music, baby.

0:37:59 > 0:38:05# Had no chance to say I love you and I need you, baby. #

0:38:05 > 0:38:06APPLAUSE

0:38:10 > 0:38:13- Not bad. - LAUGHTER

0:38:13 > 0:38:15Well, here we are, together again at last, by popular demand.

0:38:15 > 0:38:17How are you?

0:38:17 > 0:38:19'I don't know what it was, we sort of hit it off right away.'

0:38:19 > 0:38:24Was she romantically attached to me? I would hope so.

0:38:24 > 0:38:25May I light your fire, my child?

0:38:25 > 0:38:27LAUGHTER

0:38:28 > 0:38:30- I guess not.- Apparently not, no.

0:38:30 > 0:38:32LAUGHTER

0:38:32 > 0:38:34Well, I would have bet against it myself.

0:38:34 > 0:38:39We were good friends and, I will level with you, we may or may not...

0:38:39 > 0:38:41have ended up...

0:38:41 > 0:38:43intimate.

0:38:44 > 0:38:47I just, you know... My memory is so bad.

0:38:49 > 0:38:51Or so good.

0:38:53 > 0:38:58We lived in the Chelsea Hotel while we were making Cheap Thrills

0:38:58 > 0:38:59and while we were touring

0:38:59 > 0:39:02and we lived in Los Angeles. About half the time we were in

0:39:02 > 0:39:06Hollywood and half the time we were at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan.

0:39:06 > 0:39:10And it was just so much fun. You know, we would get together

0:39:10 > 0:39:14and do heroin at these people's rooms.

0:39:14 > 0:39:19And just kind of not nod off or go to sleep or something

0:39:19 > 0:39:23but just have really nice, mellow conversations.

0:39:23 > 0:39:26# If you believe in magic

0:39:26 > 0:39:28# Don't be afraid

0:39:28 > 0:39:29# Afraid to use it, baby

0:39:29 > 0:39:31# No, no, no, no, no, no

0:39:31 > 0:39:32# Come on home

0:39:32 > 0:39:35# Dressed in mystic silk

0:39:35 > 0:39:38# Or wearing rich rags and waste

0:39:38 > 0:39:41# Darling, please come on back to me

0:39:41 > 0:39:43# I know we can be

0:39:43 > 0:39:47# Part of a magic race. #

0:39:47 > 0:39:51She liked New York and it had that tombstone quality for her

0:39:51 > 0:39:55so I was going to do a film with her because I really liked her a lot

0:39:55 > 0:39:59and she was recording stuff with the band

0:39:59 > 0:40:03and I would go and listen and film them.

0:40:03 > 0:40:06SHE SCREAMS

0:40:06 > 0:40:08I was interested mostly in how

0:40:08 > 0:40:13she understood to control her singing because her singing

0:40:13 > 0:40:16had this thing of when she'd lose it,

0:40:16 > 0:40:18she would shout and scream.

0:40:18 > 0:40:23And sometimes that was very effective but it couldn't be...

0:40:23 > 0:40:27the music had to have something more to it than that.

0:40:27 > 0:40:29SHE SCREAMS

0:40:34 > 0:40:37I think it's a real good...

0:40:39 > 0:40:42- Let's do Summertime.- OK, let's go.

0:40:42 > 0:40:43Over to you.

0:40:43 > 0:40:46THEY PLAY "SUMMERTIME"

0:40:58 > 0:40:59She goes...

0:40:59 > 0:41:01# Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na

0:41:01 > 0:41:02# Don't you cry... #

0:41:02 > 0:41:05# No, no, no, no, no, no No, no, no, no

0:41:05 > 0:41:07# Don't you cry. #

0:41:07 > 0:41:09- ..at the very end of the song. - In the song, last chord of the song.

0:41:09 > 0:41:14The first G major arpeggio, I think, is wrong. When she says "cry".

0:41:14 > 0:41:17- What you want? Six arpeggios of G minor?- G minor.

0:41:17 > 0:41:19Because it changes to G minor for two after that.

0:41:19 > 0:41:22It's already in the major, he's trying to get it in the minor.

0:41:22 > 0:41:25- Why don't you do four G minors? - THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

0:41:25 > 0:41:27We can do it either way.

0:41:27 > 0:41:29I mean, they're both valid approaches

0:41:29 > 0:41:31but I think... It's ten o'clock.

0:41:31 > 0:41:34I think, by four, we could have Summertime.

0:41:34 > 0:41:36Let's say we'll be done by 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock,

0:41:36 > 0:41:39and we can spend a few hours doing something else.

0:41:39 > 0:41:42If you all voted to do a bunch of them tonight, that's OK with me

0:41:42 > 0:41:44but I personally don't agree with it.

0:41:44 > 0:41:46Playing it and listening to it back

0:41:46 > 0:41:47ain't going to teach us a damn thing.

0:41:47 > 0:41:50I know exactly what that song sounds like and I've racked my brain

0:41:50 > 0:41:53to try and get ideas for it, as I'm sure everybody else has.

0:41:53 > 0:41:55...G major and G minor when you sing, "Don't you cry."

0:41:55 > 0:41:57How do you know what it...? Turn that thing off.

0:41:57 > 0:41:59OK, all right.

0:41:59 > 0:42:01Don't go away.

0:42:01 > 0:42:04MUSIC: Summertime

0:42:37 > 0:42:42# Oh, one

0:42:42 > 0:42:44# Of these mornings

0:42:44 > 0:42:52# Child, you'll rise up singing, babe

0:42:54 > 0:42:56# I said you're going to go

0:42:56 > 0:43:00# Honey, going to sprea-ea-ead your wings

0:43:01 > 0:43:03# Honey, take

0:43:03 > 0:43:07# Take to the sky-y

0:43:08 > 0:43:11# Lord, the sky

0:43:11 > 0:43:18# But till that morning

0:43:18 > 0:43:25# Honey, n-no nothing's gonna harm you, babe

0:43:25 > 0:43:28# I said, honey nothing's ever gonna let you down

0:43:28 > 0:43:30# Oh, it just wouldn't do it

0:43:30 > 0:43:31# Hush

0:43:31 > 0:43:33# Baby, baby, baby, baby

0:43:33 > 0:43:35# Baby, baby, baby

0:43:36 > 0:43:39# No, no, no, no, no, no don't you cry

0:43:48 > 0:43:52# No. #

0:43:53 > 0:43:55APPLAUSE

0:43:58 > 0:44:01"Dear Family, lots of trouble in the band.

0:44:01 > 0:44:04"Most of them revolving around the fact that I think I'm hot shit,

0:44:04 > 0:44:08"as I'm told by everyone from Albert down, and the band is sloppy."

0:44:08 > 0:44:11When she came into the band, Peter was the leader of the band,

0:44:11 > 0:44:13the bass player.

0:44:13 > 0:44:17And James was the mythic, iconic, you know, beautiful figure.

0:44:17 > 0:44:19He represented the band.

0:44:21 > 0:44:24And then here comes Janis and when she joined the band,

0:44:24 > 0:44:26she became both of those things.

0:44:26 > 0:44:29They had a very complicated reaction to her fame.

0:44:35 > 0:44:37There was a cadre of hangers-on

0:44:37 > 0:44:41that sort of insulated her from her band, from what I could see.

0:44:41 > 0:44:43And it was just a matter of time

0:44:43 > 0:44:48until somebody tried to polish her up and make a big star out of her.

0:44:48 > 0:44:50It's crazy now to think back

0:44:50 > 0:44:53that we signed our management agreement with the guy.

0:44:53 > 0:44:57But I think from the very get-go, there was a sense that he was

0:44:57 > 0:45:01not a big fan of ours, that he really was into Janis.

0:45:01 > 0:45:06But we wanted to believe that he would work for the whole band.

0:45:06 > 0:45:09And the guys in the band were powerless.

0:45:09 > 0:45:12No-one had the ability to stop that from happening.

0:45:12 > 0:45:16She was a singularity and she attracted that kind of attention.

0:45:18 > 0:45:22She cared about Big Brother's career, she loved those guys,

0:45:22 > 0:45:27but there was something that she saw that was beyond that.

0:45:27 > 0:45:30And if she didn't do it, she'd never know if she could.

0:45:32 > 0:45:36"Dear Family, so we're back in California for two more weeks.

0:45:36 > 0:45:39"After that begins my hardest task.

0:45:39 > 0:45:42"I told you, remember, that I was leaving Big Brother

0:45:42 > 0:45:44"and going to do a thing on my own.

0:45:44 > 0:45:46"There'll be a whole lot of pressure cos of the vibes

0:45:46 > 0:45:51"created by my leaving Big Brother, and also, at just how big I am now."

0:45:56 > 0:45:58Nobody ever saw her wearing those kind of clothes,

0:45:58 > 0:46:02but that's the kind of clothes she had when she came from Texas.

0:46:02 > 0:46:04If someone said, you know, "What did you learn from Janis?

0:46:04 > 0:46:05"What did she teach you?"

0:46:05 > 0:46:09If I had to say it in a sentence, it's emotional honesty,

0:46:09 > 0:46:11and the price of not emotional honesty.

0:46:13 > 0:46:15She started to lose that.

0:46:15 > 0:46:18She started to become something that people expected of her.

0:46:18 > 0:46:21She started to become a caricature of what she was,

0:46:21 > 0:46:24and play it for people, you know?

0:46:24 > 0:46:27And I think that hurt her in some way.

0:46:28 > 0:46:31"Take this lonely heart from one lonely girl.

0:46:31 > 0:46:35"Reaching too high, babe, can't help from getting burned."

0:46:35 > 0:46:39Everything she ever wrote, pretty much, is autobiographical,

0:46:39 > 0:46:42and I thought the "Reaching too high, babe", too, was right...

0:46:42 > 0:46:45This was done right at the time when she's leaving Big Brother.

0:46:46 > 0:46:51She knows she's kind of going to go for some higher level of fame

0:46:51 > 0:46:54and stardom and, you know, and she might fall on her face.

0:46:54 > 0:46:57She knew that it might not work out, she might get burned.

0:47:06 > 0:47:12The fallout for James and Peter and David was significant,

0:47:12 > 0:47:15because Janis asked Sam to come with her to her new band.

0:47:18 > 0:47:21I loved Jan, I loved her all the way through, you know.

0:47:21 > 0:47:24The first time I ever saw her, you know,

0:47:24 > 0:47:26she just had this attitude that I liked.

0:47:26 > 0:47:30It wasn't belligerent but it was non-compromising.

0:47:32 > 0:47:33MUSIC: Maybe by Janis Joplin

0:47:35 > 0:47:39She's loud, she's... You know, one of these loud Texas women.

0:47:39 > 0:47:43She was real smart and...considerate most of the time.

0:47:43 > 0:47:46We both had real quick tempers.

0:47:50 > 0:47:52# Ma-a-a-a-aybe

0:47:54 > 0:47:56# Oh, if I could pray

0:47:56 > 0:47:58# And I try, dear

0:47:58 > 0:48:00# You might come back home

0:48:00 > 0:48:02# Home to me... #

0:48:02 > 0:48:05They called me up to play with Janis,

0:48:05 > 0:48:08so they sent me a ticket and I went to New York.

0:48:09 > 0:48:14I went there, opened the door, and this girl had on a bra

0:48:14 > 0:48:17and some panties and said, "Hi, I'm Janis."

0:48:17 > 0:48:19I said, "Hi, I'm in the right place."

0:48:19 > 0:48:21HE CHUCKLES

0:48:21 > 0:48:24# Maybe...

0:48:24 > 0:48:26# Maybe, maybe, maybe... #

0:48:26 > 0:48:29When she started singing, I said, "Damn!

0:48:29 > 0:48:31"Are you sure she white?!"

0:48:35 > 0:48:37Now, you quit Big Brother and The Holding Company.

0:48:37 > 0:48:39Why did you do that?

0:48:39 > 0:48:42Well, just because, uh...

0:48:43 > 0:48:45It was sort of just time for us to, I think,

0:48:45 > 0:48:48- to go on and do something else, you know what I mean?- Mm-hm.

0:48:48 > 0:48:52Like, you grow together, you know, a certain way

0:48:52 > 0:48:55and you sort of exhaust each other.

0:48:55 > 0:48:57You exhaust the good that you can do for each other,

0:48:57 > 0:49:00and it was just time for each of us to start growing from...

0:49:00 > 0:49:03In other directions, do you know what I mean?

0:49:04 > 0:49:06'I think you really grow as a musician,

0:49:06 > 0:49:09'and that's what we're, after all, we're supposed to be all about.

0:49:09 > 0:49:12'Just trying to get better at what we do, you know?'

0:49:16 > 0:49:20San Francisco was the first place, the first community,

0:49:20 > 0:49:23where Janis really felt at home.

0:49:23 > 0:49:25When she left Big Brother, she lost it.

0:49:58 > 0:50:00The pressure to succeed was huge,

0:50:00 > 0:50:03and she was carrying around this weight.

0:50:11 > 0:50:13You know, she didn't know how to lead a band,

0:50:13 > 0:50:15that's one of the reasons it was a mistake, you know.

0:50:15 > 0:50:18She didn't know how to lead the band, and she was in charge,

0:50:18 > 0:50:22so she had people putting together that band for her,

0:50:22 > 0:50:25along with a lot of other strange people

0:50:25 > 0:50:28who were appointed band directors, you know.

0:50:28 > 0:50:30It wasn't working.

0:50:32 > 0:50:37There were changes in personnel, and none of it solved anything.

0:50:37 > 0:50:42We went to Europe only, like, two months into touring.

0:50:42 > 0:50:45She's there with a new band which doesn't know what the hell

0:50:45 > 0:50:46it's supposed to be.

0:50:46 > 0:50:48- JANIS JOPLIN:- OK, you guys.

0:50:48 > 0:50:50COUGHING AND CLAPPING IN AUDIENCE

0:50:50 > 0:50:51# Oh... #

0:50:51 > 0:50:53You know what?

0:50:53 > 0:50:55No. I'm... I'm making a problem.

0:50:57 > 0:51:02We played in Frankfurt and Janis was freaking out.

0:51:02 > 0:51:06We peeped out the curtain and all of these dudes were sitting there

0:51:06 > 0:51:10with their little haircuts, like you put a bowl on their head

0:51:10 > 0:51:11and cut around the bowl.

0:51:13 > 0:51:14- JANIS JOPLIN:- Is everybody ready?!

0:51:14 > 0:51:15But we felt like playing.

0:51:15 > 0:51:18We said, "Hey, man, we play the show.

0:51:18 > 0:51:22"If y'all want to boogie, come on up here with us and boogie."

0:51:22 > 0:51:23MUSIC: Raise Your Hand by Janis Joplin

0:51:29 > 0:51:31# If there's something you need

0:51:32 > 0:51:34# Hon, that you've never ever, ever had

0:51:34 > 0:51:36# I know you never had it

0:51:36 > 0:51:39# Oh, honey don't you just sit there crying

0:51:39 > 0:51:41# Don't just there feeling bad

0:51:41 > 0:51:42# No, no, no

0:51:42 > 0:51:44# You'd better get up

0:51:44 > 0:51:46# Now, don't you understand?

0:51:46 > 0:51:48# And raise your hand

0:51:48 > 0:51:49# Hey, hey

0:51:49 > 0:51:51# I said r-a-a-a-a-aise your hand

0:51:51 > 0:51:53# Right here, right now! Ay!

0:51:59 > 0:52:01# WOW-OW-OW-OW!

0:52:01 > 0:52:03# Wow-whoa, yeah. #

0:52:14 > 0:52:15SONG CONTINUES

0:52:20 > 0:52:22I'm nobody, I'm just a fan!

0:52:22 > 0:52:24No, I just... I'm just a fan!

0:52:24 > 0:52:25Cos, like, I'm crazy about her!

0:52:25 > 0:52:28- GERMAN REPORTER: - Where from you are, friend?

0:52:28 > 0:52:30- I can't talk if you're taking pictures of me!- Why not?

0:52:30 > 0:52:33Because I'm not groovy, she's groovy, look at her!

0:52:33 > 0:52:34FEMALE FAN GIGGLES

0:52:35 > 0:52:36# Come on... #

0:52:38 > 0:52:42I guess, because we're strangers in foreign lands,

0:52:42 > 0:52:44the Kozmic Blues Band came together.

0:52:47 > 0:52:50The Albert Hall in London was the last concert,

0:52:50 > 0:52:55and Janis knew that Bob Dylan had sold out, and she was really

0:52:55 > 0:52:59excited about playing the Albert Hall, and she did sell out.

0:52:59 > 0:53:02She got people dancing in the aisles at the Albert Hall,

0:53:02 > 0:53:04and she was just ecstatic after.

0:53:04 > 0:53:06- JANIS JOPLIN:- Oh, excited!

0:53:06 > 0:53:07JANIS SQUEALS

0:53:07 > 0:53:10Nobody ever, nobody, anybody ever thought it would be that good!

0:53:10 > 0:53:13Nobody's ever fucking got up yet, no-one's gotten to dance

0:53:13 > 0:53:16and dug it, no-one's ever done anything there, and they did it!

0:53:16 > 0:53:20Man, they fucking got up and grooved, and then they listened!

0:53:20 > 0:53:24God, I'm so happy! Whoo-hoo!

0:53:31 > 0:53:32CHEERING

0:53:35 > 0:53:38When Janis was onstage and things were going well,

0:53:38 > 0:53:39all was right with the world.

0:53:42 > 0:53:45But after that hour, you've got to come offstage.

0:53:51 > 0:53:53FAINT CHEERING

0:53:53 > 0:53:56She used to say that it was like making love,

0:53:56 > 0:54:00being on the stage, you know. But it's an illusion.

0:54:00 > 0:54:01When the show's over,

0:54:01 > 0:54:05the audience leaves...and you're left with yourself.

0:54:06 > 0:54:07CHEERING INTENSIFIES

0:54:09 > 0:54:11CHEERING FADES OUT

0:54:16 > 0:54:22She rarely was using heroin before a concert, because it wasn't

0:54:22 > 0:54:26the right kind of energy for onstage and she cared about that.

0:54:26 > 0:54:30But her after-the-concert fix was a real regular thing.

0:54:32 > 0:54:37We were devolving into this drug use that was way out of hand.

0:54:37 > 0:54:40I have to, you know, digress for a second and say,

0:54:40 > 0:54:44when Janis was in Big Brother, Peter didn't do any drugs, you know,

0:54:44 > 0:54:48so out of respect to him, we kept it toned down a lot, you know.

0:54:50 > 0:54:53So now she's in Kozmic Blues, so we're doing, really,

0:54:53 > 0:54:55a lot of drugs, you know, because Peter's not...

0:54:55 > 0:54:57Daddy isn't there any more, you know.

0:54:57 > 0:54:59We're free and we can do all these drugs now.

0:55:02 > 0:55:04So, it really got out of hand, you know,

0:55:04 > 0:55:07in Los Angeles, in particular, the Landmark Hotel.

0:55:07 > 0:55:10She called me to her room and she said,

0:55:10 > 0:55:13"Your services are no longer needed."

0:55:13 > 0:55:15And so then we shot up some heroin and she said,

0:55:15 > 0:55:18"Well, aren't you going to ask me why?!"

0:55:18 > 0:55:22I said, "What difference does it make?"

0:55:22 > 0:55:25It was just like a marriage and I'd run out of juice and...

0:55:27 > 0:55:30..a lot of our friends were dying that year.

0:55:30 > 0:55:32She's lying on a motel bed and she says,

0:55:32 > 0:55:34"It's not going to happen to me."

0:55:34 > 0:55:37She said, "My people are pioneer stock

0:55:37 > 0:55:39"and they came across the country and they came to Texas.

0:55:39 > 0:55:41"They're tough.

0:55:41 > 0:55:44"I've got those genes and nothing's going to happen to me",

0:55:44 > 0:55:46which made me... "Shit, I wish you wouldn't have said that!"

0:55:46 > 0:55:48HE CHUCKLES

0:55:48 > 0:55:50You know.

0:55:50 > 0:55:53# Trust in me, baby

0:55:53 > 0:55:57# Give me time, give me time, hm-mm

0:55:57 > 0:55:58# Give me time

0:56:00 > 0:56:04# Oh, my love is like a seed, baby

0:56:05 > 0:56:09# Just needs time to grow

0:56:11 > 0:56:14# It's growing stronger day by day, yeah

0:56:14 > 0:56:18# Make anybody want to sacrifice

0:56:21 > 0:56:26# My love is like a seed, baby

0:56:26 > 0:56:28# Trust in me, baby

0:56:28 > 0:56:30# Trust in me, baby

0:56:30 > 0:56:32# Trust in my love

0:56:32 > 0:56:34# In my heart

0:56:35 > 0:56:38# Keep the faith, baby

0:56:38 > 0:56:40# Keep the faith in me, dear. #

0:56:40 > 0:56:43We had heard about Woodstock from pretty well in advance,

0:56:43 > 0:56:46and we thought, "Oh, great, it's the next Monterey."

0:56:47 > 0:56:49It's a very warm summer day...

0:56:50 > 0:56:54..and all this variety of choppers are taking off and landing.

0:56:56 > 0:57:02I do remember that Peggy was on the airlift zone where we took off from.

0:57:04 > 0:57:08I was always apprehensive when Peggy was around because I felt

0:57:08 > 0:57:12she would be an enabler rather than a helper with the drug problem.

0:57:17 > 0:57:22She called and said, "You have to come." I said, "I can't."

0:57:22 > 0:57:26Because we were hearing reports that the turnpike was bogged down

0:57:26 > 0:57:30and people were out of gas and having babies and, you know,

0:57:30 > 0:57:32it was like locusts coming through, you know.

0:57:32 > 0:57:35I said the only way I'd come out there was

0:57:35 > 0:57:38if I was airlifted in and she said, "OK."

0:57:57 > 0:58:02We were both around the same age in the South

0:58:02 > 0:58:04with middle class families.

0:58:04 > 0:58:09But I think Janis had a harder time of coming through.

0:58:09 > 0:58:12But on the other hand, you know, people tend to think,

0:58:12 > 0:58:16because of that, that she was depressed. She wasn't.

0:58:16 > 0:58:20It was all fun.

0:58:20 > 0:58:24We shot heroin for fun. And it took the edge off.

0:58:24 > 0:58:29We were in the midst of one of the most social phenomenons in history.

0:58:33 > 0:58:38What I understand is she got very high shooting up in the Porta-San

0:58:38 > 0:58:40and couldn't go on.

0:58:42 > 0:58:45Finally, Peggy and John Cooke had to push her on stage.

0:58:47 > 0:58:49CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:58:56 > 0:59:01How are y'all? I mean... Erm... How are you out there? Are you OK?

0:59:01 > 0:59:03CROWD WHOOPS AND CHEERS

0:59:03 > 0:59:06You're not...

0:59:06 > 0:59:08You're staying stoned and you've got enough water

0:59:08 > 0:59:11and you've got a place to sleep and everything?

0:59:11 > 0:59:13CHEERING

0:59:13 > 0:59:18Because, you know, because we oughta, all of us...

0:59:18 > 0:59:21I don't mean to be preachy but we oughta remember,

0:59:21 > 0:59:25and that means promoters too, that music's for grooving, man.

0:59:25 > 0:59:27Music's not for putting yourself through bad changes.

0:59:27 > 0:59:30You know, you don't have to go take anybody's shit, man,

0:59:30 > 0:59:34just to like music. You know what I mean? You don't.

0:59:34 > 0:59:36So if you're getting more shit than you deserve,

0:59:36 > 0:59:38you know what to do about it, man.

0:59:43 > 0:59:47# Work me, Lord

0:59:51 > 0:59:55# Work me, Lord

0:59:55 > 0:59:58# Please don't you leave me

1:00:00 > 1:00:03# I feel so useless down here

1:00:03 > 1:00:07# With no-one to love

1:00:07 > 1:00:11# Though I've looked everywhere

1:00:11 > 1:00:15# And I can't find me anybody to love

1:00:15 > 1:00:17# To feel my care

1:00:17 > 1:00:23# So-whoa

1:00:23 > 1:00:26# Work me, Lord

1:00:26 > 1:00:29# Whoa

1:00:29 > 1:00:33# Oh, use me, Lord... #

1:00:33 > 1:00:35Do you ever have a whole night when you just stand up there

1:00:35 > 1:00:37and you feel you're not making it?

1:00:37 > 1:00:40Well, yeah, but you're kind of trying...

1:00:40 > 1:00:43You have little games that you play with yourself to turn yourself on.

1:00:43 > 1:00:45- Mm.- You can usually get yourself going.

1:00:45 > 1:00:48You've never had a desire to just leave the stage and say, "I'm sorry.

1:00:48 > 1:00:51"It isn't working tonight, folks."

1:00:51 > 1:00:55It's the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn't leave.

1:00:55 > 1:00:59Yeah. Yeah. If you couldn't do it any more you'd be miserable, huh?

1:00:59 > 1:01:04Yeah. I hope that by that time I'll have something else that's groovy.

1:01:04 > 1:01:06# Whoa

1:01:06 > 1:01:08# Whoa-yeah

1:01:10 > 1:01:15# Who-o-o-oa-ah

1:01:15 > 1:01:17# Please

1:01:17 > 1:01:19# Oh, daddy no, no, no, no, no... # VOICE BREAKS

1:01:19 > 1:01:21# Plea-... Ah

1:01:21 > 1:01:24# Ah no, no, no Don't you go and leave me

1:01:24 > 1:01:26# Honey, when I reach out I wanna

1:01:26 > 1:01:30# I said I wanna hold on to you

1:01:30 > 1:01:33# Well, you're never there

1:01:33 > 1:01:35# It doesn't turn me off again

1:01:35 > 1:01:39# I still reach out to hold on to my man

1:01:39 > 1:01:43# I said daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy daddy, daddy, daddy

1:01:43 > 1:01:45# Don't you go

1:01:45 > 1:01:49# No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

1:01:49 > 1:01:55# Honey, don't you go and le-e-eave me

1:01:55 > 1:02:00# Say, my Lord. #

1:02:03 > 1:02:07CHEERING DISTORTS

1:02:46 > 1:02:49This is the dark time in my time with Janis.

1:02:49 > 1:02:52Albert and Janis reached a point where they said,

1:02:52 > 1:02:57"Well, we're going to let the Kozmic Blues Band dissipate."

1:03:01 > 1:03:04Janis took that failure on herself.

1:03:04 > 1:03:07She felt that she was failing and this was, as a result,

1:03:07 > 1:03:11by far their worst abuse of heroin and alcohol.

1:03:18 > 1:03:21Well, this whole thing that's happened to me,

1:03:21 > 1:03:25you see, this whole success thing... Erm...

1:03:25 > 1:03:29It hasn't yet really compromised the position

1:03:29 > 1:03:32I took a long time ago in Texas that was to be true to myself,

1:03:32 > 1:03:37to be the person that was inside of me and not play games.

1:03:37 > 1:03:40That's what I'm trying to do mostly in the whole world,

1:03:40 > 1:03:42is to not bullshit myself.

1:03:43 > 1:03:45What do you think when you're singing?

1:03:45 > 1:03:48Do you actually think what's going on in the song

1:03:48 > 1:03:50or can your mind be somewhere else?

1:03:50 > 1:03:54- I'm not really thinking much. You're just sort of trying to feel.- Yeah.

1:03:56 > 1:04:00The last I heard of you, you were in the jungles of Brazil.

1:04:00 > 1:04:02I went to Rio for Carnival

1:04:02 > 1:04:06and then I decided to hitchhike around the northern part of Brazil.

1:04:06 > 1:04:11- As a kind of vacation?- Just like a regular old beatnik on the road.

1:04:18 > 1:04:20I knew I was going to try to make it to Rio for Carnival

1:04:20 > 1:04:22cos I was meeting a friend of mine

1:04:22 > 1:04:26so I got to Rio a couple of days early and I thought,

1:04:26 > 1:04:28"God. There's Ipanema beach, you know.

1:04:28 > 1:04:31"God, the girl from Ipanema," you know.

1:04:31 > 1:04:33So I went over to Ipanema beach

1:04:33 > 1:04:37and the very first person I ran into on the beach was Janis.

1:04:37 > 1:04:41I didn't know it was Janis, I just saw this girl with a bikini on.

1:04:43 > 1:04:47# Don't you understand me, baby

1:04:47 > 1:04:55# Why I need a man to love... #

1:04:55 > 1:04:58She looked up. I remember lifting her sunglasses up and saying,

1:04:58 > 1:05:04"Hiya, cute thing." And I went, "Wow. Hiya, cute thing."

1:05:04 > 1:05:06I'd been in the jungle a long time!

1:05:06 > 1:05:08# This loneliness

1:05:08 > 1:05:11# Baby, surrounding me

1:05:11 > 1:05:16- # No, no, no, it just can't be - # No, it just can't be

1:05:16 > 1:05:18# There's got to be some kind of answer

1:05:18 > 1:05:21# No, it just can't be... #

1:05:23 > 1:05:25When we went back to the hotel the first night,

1:05:25 > 1:05:28she wasn't sleeping well, she was rolling around,

1:05:28 > 1:05:31she was unhappy, she was having cold sweats

1:05:31 > 1:05:34and she told me that she was trying to kick the habit

1:05:34 > 1:05:37so I held her for two-and-a-half days while she came down.

1:05:41 > 1:05:43She was really a different person.

1:05:43 > 1:05:48She was much more calm, she was much more beautiful, I mean...

1:05:48 > 1:05:50And she wasn't used to being straight

1:05:50 > 1:05:54so she knew she was more beautiful and then after that it was clear -

1:05:54 > 1:05:59she couldn't have gotten higher than when we travelled around Brazil.

1:05:59 > 1:06:03She was so free and so different than any other girl I'd ever met.

1:06:05 > 1:06:08I'd never had a woman inspire me before.

1:06:08 > 1:06:10So it stopped me in my tracks, so to speak.

1:06:10 > 1:06:14I was heading for North Africa and when I met her I realised,

1:06:14 > 1:06:17"Shit, I'm not going anywhere."

1:06:18 > 1:06:23When we came back to California, we spent time together,

1:06:23 > 1:06:25just the two of us.

1:06:25 > 1:06:28I mean, we did come to the park here and we did go to the Haight,

1:06:28 > 1:06:30but basically we just pretty much hung together.

1:06:30 > 1:06:33We were inseparable, really, for those months.

1:06:36 > 1:06:38As my relationship with Janis grew,

1:06:38 > 1:06:43I realised when she sang me these songs, they were always the blues

1:06:43 > 1:06:46and that's what she felt, basically, were the blues.

1:06:46 > 1:06:48She could feel everybody's pain.

1:06:48 > 1:06:51That's one of the reasons she did heroin,

1:06:51 > 1:06:55was so she didn't have to be involved with everybody else's life.

1:06:55 > 1:06:57Most people can be oblivious to what's going on around them.

1:06:57 > 1:07:02Janis couldn't. She couldn't block it out.

1:07:02 > 1:07:04But she was addicted to it, you know.

1:07:04 > 1:07:06And I got her to stop and then when I would go away,

1:07:06 > 1:07:10she'd get weak, I guess, is one way to say it, and start it again.

1:07:11 > 1:07:13I told her I can't do that part.

1:07:13 > 1:07:16I can't put up with that cos it's killing you.

1:07:16 > 1:07:17And it broke my heart to see it.

1:07:17 > 1:07:20Really what it is, it broke my heart, more than anything.

1:07:20 > 1:07:22When I said I was leaving, she said,

1:07:22 > 1:07:25"Why don't you stay and become my manager?"

1:07:25 > 1:07:27It was a tempting offer,

1:07:27 > 1:07:30but the heroin I couldn't even begin to put up with.

1:07:34 > 1:07:40# Oh

1:07:40 > 1:07:43# Baby

1:07:43 > 1:07:47# Cry, baby

1:07:47 > 1:07:50# Cry, baby

1:07:50 > 1:07:55# Oh, honey, welcome back home

1:07:55 > 1:07:57# I had a man

1:07:59 > 1:08:05# He said honey, honey You know that I love you

1:08:05 > 1:08:07# See, baby, you know I gotta go find myself

1:08:07 > 1:08:09# You know I gotta go find my life

1:08:09 > 1:08:12# I gotta go find myself over in Africa

1:08:12 > 1:08:15# Or over in New York City

1:08:15 > 1:08:18# Or over in Olema

1:08:18 > 1:08:21# Some place those cats are always wandering off to

1:08:21 > 1:08:23# I never figured out exactly where it was

1:08:23 > 1:08:25# Always going somewhere, man

1:08:27 > 1:08:31# And I said, baby, don't you realise

1:08:32 > 1:08:35# You lookin' for your life over there, honey

1:08:35 > 1:08:37# You wanna know where your life is?

1:08:37 > 1:08:41# Your life's waiting like a goddamn fool right here

1:08:41 > 1:08:43# For you, man

1:08:43 > 1:08:46# And one mornin', you're going to wake up in Casablanca

1:08:46 > 1:08:48# One of those fancy places

1:08:48 > 1:08:50# Honey, you're gonna be freezing to death, man

1:08:50 > 1:08:54# You're gonna wake up just think Good Lord

1:08:54 > 1:08:57# Good, good, good Lord

1:08:57 > 1:08:59# I just went off and left that woman

1:08:59 > 1:09:02# In that great big huge double bed Great big fur rug on top of it

1:09:02 > 1:09:07# And those satin sheets man What am I doin' in Casablanca, man?

1:09:07 > 1:09:09# I mean really, man

1:09:09 > 1:09:12# One of these days, that cat's gonna wake up and say it to himself

1:09:12 > 1:09:17# And when he comes back home, yeah Just like the Capricorn I am

1:09:17 > 1:09:20# I'll be standin' there waiting

1:09:20 > 1:09:24# I said, baby, I knew one day

1:09:24 > 1:09:27# Honey, I knew, knew, knew one day

1:09:27 > 1:09:30# Won't you finally come home to me

1:09:30 > 1:09:34# Honey, when you walk through my front door

1:09:34 > 1:09:37# I'll be able to tell by the look in your eyes

1:09:37 > 1:09:39# I said, good God

1:09:39 > 1:09:42# I mean finally Good God, yeah

1:09:42 > 1:09:46# Lord, he done finally realised

1:09:46 > 1:09:49# So you can put your head on my shoulder, yeah

1:09:49 > 1:09:54# Cos I know you've got more tears to shed, do you

1:09:54 > 1:09:57# So come on, come on, come on

1:09:57 > 1:10:00# Come on, come on, come on

1:10:00 > 1:10:03# And cry, cry, baby

1:10:05 > 1:10:07# Cry, baby

1:10:09 > 1:10:11# Cry

1:10:12 > 1:10:15# Cry

1:10:16 > 1:10:20# Cry, baby

1:10:20 > 1:10:24# Cry, baby

1:10:24 > 1:10:26# Cry, baby. #

1:10:29 > 1:10:31CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1:10:37 > 1:10:40I want to ask you about that tune that you just sang.

1:10:40 > 1:10:45- It's, erm, about men. - It's about men.

1:10:45 > 1:10:47- Do you ever see those mule carts? - Yeah.

1:10:47 > 1:10:52Well, there's a dumb mule up there, right, and they have a long stick

1:10:52 > 1:10:55with a string and a carrot on the end of it.

1:10:55 > 1:10:57And they hang this thing in front of the mule's nose

1:10:57 > 1:11:03- and he runs after it all day long. - And who's the man in this parable?

1:11:03 > 1:11:08- The mule or...- No.- Or is he holding the carrot?- The woman is the mule.

1:11:08 > 1:11:10Chasing something that somebody's always teasing her with.

1:11:10 > 1:11:13- Chasing a man.- Yeah. - Who always eludes her.

1:11:13 > 1:11:15Well, they just always hold up something

1:11:15 > 1:11:17more than they're prepared to give.

1:11:19 > 1:11:22We had dinner one night and I remember suddenly saying,

1:11:22 > 1:11:24without having planned to...

1:11:25 > 1:11:29"How can you assure me that you're not taking...

1:11:29 > 1:11:32"That you're not doing heroin?

1:11:32 > 1:11:36And her answer was interesting. It was, "Who would care?"

1:11:36 > 1:11:38It really stopped me.

1:11:43 > 1:11:46Do you ever get back to Port Arthur, Texas?

1:11:46 > 1:11:48No, but I'm going back next in August, man.

1:11:48 > 1:11:50- And guess what I'm doing? - I don't know.

1:11:50 > 1:11:53I'm going to my tenth annual high school reunion.

1:11:53 > 1:11:55LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

1:11:57 > 1:12:00Oh, I want to... Take movies and bring them back to us.

1:12:00 > 1:12:02Hey, would you like to go, man?

1:12:02 > 1:12:04Well, I don't have that many friends in your high school class.

1:12:04 > 1:12:07I don't either. I don't either, believe me.

1:12:07 > 1:12:10- They won't move the reunion now that you're going?- That's true.

1:12:10 > 1:12:12I wasn't going to tell them.

1:12:17 > 1:12:19What do you remember most about Port Arthur?

1:12:19 > 1:12:21SHE LAUGHS

1:12:23 > 1:12:25Erm... I don't really remember... VOICE BREAKS

1:12:25 > 1:12:27Erm, no comment. THEY GIGGLE

1:12:30 > 1:12:34It was really only the acceptance of millions that could make up

1:12:34 > 1:12:37for that way that she's grown up.

1:12:37 > 1:12:42If everyone loved her, then it was OK, but if anyone didn't,

1:12:42 > 1:12:45they could destroy her in a minute.

1:12:45 > 1:12:49How were you different from your schoolmates when you were in TJ?

1:12:49 > 1:12:51I don't know. Why don't you ask them?

1:12:54 > 1:12:57- It was they, it was they who made you different?- No. I...

1:12:57 > 1:13:00In other words, you were different in comparison with them

1:13:00 > 1:13:01or were you...

1:13:01 > 1:13:04I felt apart from them. Let's put it that way.

1:13:04 > 1:13:08- Did you go to football games? - I don't remember.

1:13:10 > 1:13:12Erm, I don't remember.

1:13:13 > 1:13:19I think not. I didn't go to the high school prom. And...

1:13:20 > 1:13:25- You were asked, weren't you?- No. I wasn't. They didn't think...

1:13:25 > 1:13:27I don't think they wanted to take me.

1:13:27 > 1:13:30SHE LAUGHS

1:13:30 > 1:13:33TEARFULLY: And I've been suffering ever since!

1:13:33 > 1:13:36THEY LAUGH I remember, when I was young,

1:13:36 > 1:13:42some doctor told my mother that if I didn't, quote, straighten up,

1:13:42 > 1:13:46quote, I was going to end up either in jail or in an insane

1:13:46 > 1:13:48asylum by the time I was 21, right.

1:13:49 > 1:13:51So when I turned 25 and my second record came out, I think

1:13:51 > 1:13:54my mother sent me a congratulatory telegram or something,

1:13:54 > 1:13:57you know, that I had escaped the pen.

1:13:57 > 1:14:00- How do you get along with your parents?- Pretty good. Pretty...

1:14:00 > 1:14:02- They had somewhere to go?- Right.

1:14:02 > 1:14:06They went to a wedding at the high school. We get along pretty good.

1:14:06 > 1:14:09- Erm... Yeah.- Do they ever seem surprised by your success?

1:14:11 > 1:14:13I think yeah, yeah.

1:14:13 > 1:14:18Our parents saw it as, you know, challenging to their way of life,

1:14:18 > 1:14:20to their positions in the community

1:14:20 > 1:14:23and it created difficulties between them

1:14:23 > 1:14:27and both of them silently, with each other,

1:14:27 > 1:14:32feeling that they had somehow caused a calamity.

1:14:55 > 1:14:57I didn't see her for six months.

1:14:57 > 1:15:01She had promised me that she was going to quit heroin.

1:15:01 > 1:15:04And she did. And it changed her.

1:15:07 > 1:15:11"Dear Family. Things are going so well for me.

1:15:11 > 1:15:14"I have a new, smaller band and it's really going fantastic.

1:15:14 > 1:15:17"Met a really fine man in Rio but I had to get back to work

1:15:17 > 1:15:20"so he's off finding the rest of the world.

1:15:20 > 1:15:23"But he really did love me and was so good to me.

1:15:23 > 1:15:25"He wants to come back and marry me.

1:15:25 > 1:15:28"I thought I'd die without someone besides fans asking me.

1:15:28 > 1:15:31"But he meant it and who knows? I may get tired of the music biz.

1:15:31 > 1:15:33"But I'm really getting it on now."

1:15:38 > 1:15:41She called me up and said, "I've got a great new band.

1:15:41 > 1:15:43"You want to come back on the road?"

1:15:43 > 1:15:46With Janis, it was magic.

1:15:46 > 1:15:48She had a gift from God when she played.

1:15:48 > 1:15:53There was a connection there. I don't know what it was between us.

1:15:53 > 1:15:56Somehow we didn't really do a lot... We never did a lot of talking.

1:15:58 > 1:16:00She was a bubbly person.

1:16:00 > 1:16:03She wanted everything to be so perfect for everyone. Not just her.

1:16:03 > 1:16:05Everyone.

1:16:05 > 1:16:08# You say that it's over, baby

1:16:08 > 1:16:11# You say that it's over now

1:16:11 > 1:16:13# But still you hang around... #

1:16:13 > 1:16:16She said, "Man, with Full Tilt I can change something

1:16:16 > 1:16:20"in the middle of the song and they're right there."

1:16:20 > 1:16:23She was a fantastic front person.

1:16:23 > 1:16:27She would say, "When I do the windmill, keep her going."

1:16:27 > 1:16:29Or we'd be playing a song

1:16:29 > 1:16:32and she'd decide she'd like to talk to the audience.

1:16:32 > 1:16:37She would bring the band down and then she would start talking.

1:16:37 > 1:16:39I can't hear you!

1:16:44 > 1:16:47She was working the crowd.

1:16:47 > 1:16:49# You say that it's over, baby... #

1:16:49 > 1:16:51It wasn't just that she was clean.

1:16:51 > 1:16:55She had learned just about every lesson to be learned

1:16:55 > 1:17:00from the really tough times of the year before.

1:17:00 > 1:17:03She was more comfortable about her whole life.

1:17:05 > 1:17:09Having David leave her was actually really good for her.

1:17:09 > 1:17:12She spoke of him afterwards as her lost love.

1:17:12 > 1:17:15She still hoped that he would come back after she got clean.

1:17:15 > 1:17:17# I ain't got no time for walking

1:17:17 > 1:17:20# And what's that gonna do with your love

1:17:20 > 1:17:23# Love all just dangling

1:17:23 > 1:17:25# Hey

1:17:25 > 1:17:28# Make up your mind, honey

1:17:28 > 1:17:31# You're playing with me... #

1:17:31 > 1:17:35"David, honey. Daddy, listen. I kicked, man, four months ago.

1:17:35 > 1:17:39"I'm on the road rockin' with a great group so I got Janis back.

1:17:39 > 1:17:42"She's delightfully crazy but I love her, man.

1:17:42 > 1:17:44"I've got that picture of us in Salvador

1:17:44 > 1:17:47"and every time I look at it, I look like a woman.

1:17:47 > 1:17:49"Not a pop star. But I'm afraid it's too late.

1:17:49 > 1:17:53"I know how to be a pop star but I don't know how to bake bread.

1:17:53 > 1:17:56"But honey, when I look at you, this whole flood comes over me.

1:17:56 > 1:18:00"I love ya and I did write, motherfucker. Don't you yell at me."

1:18:24 > 1:18:27- PHONE INTERVIEWER:- It seems to bother a lot of women's lib people

1:18:27 > 1:18:30that you're kind of so upfront sexually.

1:18:30 > 1:18:32I haven't been attacked by anyone yet.

1:18:32 > 1:18:34You know, how can they attack me?

1:18:34 > 1:18:38I'm representing everything they said they want, you know.

1:18:38 > 1:18:41It's sort of like you are what you settle for, do you know what I mean?

1:18:41 > 1:18:45And if, you know, if they settle for being somebody's dishwasher,

1:18:45 > 1:18:47that's their own fucking problem.

1:18:47 > 1:18:50If you don't settle for that and you keep fighting, you know,

1:18:50 > 1:18:52you'll end up anything you'll want to be.

1:18:52 > 1:18:56I'm just doing what I want to and what feels right

1:18:56 > 1:19:01and not settling for bullshit and it works. How can they be mad at that?

1:19:01 > 1:19:03One girl I know said,

1:19:03 > 1:19:06"How come she doesn't have any women in any of her groups?"

1:19:06 > 1:19:09You show me a good drummer and I'll hire one. You know.

1:19:09 > 1:19:11Show me a good chick.

1:19:11 > 1:19:14- Besides, I don't want a chick on the road with me.- You don't?

1:19:14 > 1:19:16I've got enough competition, man. THEY LAUGH

1:19:17 > 1:19:21No, I like to be around men!

1:19:23 > 1:19:25- Fuck it!- God bless ya, folks!

1:19:25 > 1:19:28- God bless ya! - Peace, love, truth, beauty!

1:19:28 > 1:19:33It was fun getting back with her on the Festival Express.

1:19:33 > 1:19:36Because we were all stuck in a little area.

1:19:37 > 1:19:40Her yes men couldn't contain her there.

1:19:40 > 1:19:43They couldn't control her there because she wanted to get out

1:19:43 > 1:19:46and be with her kindred spirits, the musicians.

1:19:46 > 1:19:48- Are we in Calgary yet? - We're stopped.

1:19:48 > 1:19:51- And we're going to run out... - We're in Alberta.- Alberta?- Alberta.

1:19:51 > 1:19:54Alberta, let yo' hair hang do-...

1:19:54 > 1:19:56No! LAUGHTER DROWNS SPEECH

1:20:00 > 1:20:04I've loved you ever since the day I saw you.

1:20:06 > 1:20:08'Drew didn't love Janis

1:20:08 > 1:20:11'because she was a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.

1:20:11 > 1:20:17'He loved her for what she did. And the sparks that she threw off.

1:20:17 > 1:20:20'He had a right proper appreciation for what Janis was

1:20:20 > 1:20:23'and what she had to offer.'

1:20:29 > 1:20:33# From the Kentucky coalmines to the California sun

1:20:33 > 1:20:38# Bobby shared the secrets of my soul...

1:20:38 > 1:20:44Her producer gave me a demo of her singing Bobby McGee.

1:20:44 > 1:20:52# Bobby, baby, kept me from the cold... #

1:20:52 > 1:20:56It was so exhilarating for me to hear her make that her song.

1:20:56 > 1:21:01If you're a songwriter and somebody does that with what you've got,

1:21:01 > 1:21:03it's the greatest feeling in the world.

1:21:03 > 1:21:06# Well, I'd trade all of my tomorrows

1:21:06 > 1:21:09# For one single yesterday

1:21:09 > 1:21:13# To be holding Bobby's body next to mine... #

1:21:13 > 1:21:15TRACK FADES INTO STUDIO VERSION

1:21:15 > 1:21:19# Freedom's just another word For nothing left to lose

1:21:19 > 1:21:23# Nothin', that's all that Bobby left me... #

1:21:23 > 1:21:27- I hear you're making a new record. - Yeah. It's really going good.

1:21:27 > 1:21:30I like my producer. He's really worked out really well with me.

1:21:30 > 1:21:32- Who's producing it?- Paul Rothchild.

1:21:32 > 1:21:36- You haven't worked with him before, huh?- No. No, I haven't.

1:21:36 > 1:21:38The first time I talked to Janis about Paul, she said,

1:21:38 > 1:21:41"Boy, that guy!" And I said, "What?"

1:21:41 > 1:21:44And she started talking about him and this is serious Janis

1:21:44 > 1:21:48and I had never heard her say this kind of stuff about anybody.

1:21:48 > 1:21:53She was talking about how much she was learning from him.

1:21:53 > 1:21:59The mood was very up. I mean, as good as sessions get.

1:21:59 > 1:22:03Everybody in love with everybody else and working very hard.

1:22:03 > 1:22:07And Janis, she was always ready to do the most.

1:22:07 > 1:22:12She was a much better singer than the world or even she knew.

1:22:12 > 1:22:15# La-la-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la

1:22:15 > 1:22:17# Hey now, Bobby Bobby McGee... #

1:22:17 > 1:22:22What he was asking her to do was to understand the different voices

1:22:22 > 1:22:24she had at her command

1:22:24 > 1:22:29and the ramifications of this for Janis were really profound.

1:22:29 > 1:22:32Because she had always said, and she absolutely meant it, "Oh, man.

1:22:32 > 1:22:37"When I blow out my voice, I'm gonna buy a bar, retire in Rains County."

1:22:37 > 1:22:40What she was learning from Paul was enabling her to see

1:22:40 > 1:22:43farther into the future.

1:22:43 > 1:22:45And that's where Paul was looking all along.

1:22:45 > 1:22:49He said, "30 years from now, I want you to be making your best album

1:22:49 > 1:22:52"and I want you to be making it with me.

1:22:53 > 1:22:56She called me on the phone and she said,

1:22:56 > 1:22:58"I've got to play on the phone for you...

1:23:00 > 1:23:05"..a song of Kris Kristofferson's that I've just recorded."

1:23:05 > 1:23:11To hear that voice, to hear her pride, to hear her excitement...

1:23:13 > 1:23:20I didn't hear it till she was gone and it was very emotional for me.

1:23:21 > 1:23:25I can see her saying, "Wait till that son-of-a-bitch hears this!"

1:23:25 > 1:23:27You know?

1:23:29 > 1:23:32# Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee. #

1:23:34 > 1:23:37You know, everything about it was positive for Janis.

1:23:37 > 1:23:39Except that she always hated the down hours.

1:23:43 > 1:23:46The Janis who says, "How come the guys in the band go home,

1:23:46 > 1:23:49"you know, with these girls and I go home alone?"

1:23:49 > 1:23:53She was saying, "You can't imagine how hard it is to be me."

1:23:59 > 1:24:04She just didn't know who to relax with. She just didn't know any more.

1:24:06 > 1:24:10A lot of pressure. "You've got to do this, Janis. You've got to do that."

1:24:10 > 1:24:14That's what made it hard for her, I think. She loved everybody.

1:24:14 > 1:24:16That was the problem.

1:24:18 > 1:24:21She was like a little girl lost

1:24:21 > 1:24:26and then she would be as strong as a mountain lion.

1:24:26 > 1:24:28Erm...

1:24:33 > 1:24:36As far as anyone could see, she had kicked heroin.

1:24:36 > 1:24:38She had replaced it with alcohol,

1:24:38 > 1:24:41but it didn't look like that was going to kill her.

1:24:41 > 1:24:45I think she thought, "One last little hurrah."

1:24:47 > 1:24:51I can understand her wanting to, you know, "No-one's ever going to know.

1:24:51 > 1:24:56"I'll hang in my room, do a hit and then go to bed."

1:24:59 > 1:25:02Paul Rothchild called me and he said, "Janis isn't here.

1:25:02 > 1:25:05"Can you see if you can find her?"

1:25:05 > 1:25:08And I pulled out of the driveway and I look up there

1:25:08 > 1:25:12and I know which window is hers and there's a light in the window.

1:25:13 > 1:25:17And when I opened the door, I had this really simple

1:25:17 > 1:25:19and direct feeling - nobody's here.

1:25:20 > 1:25:23I came round the corner and saw Janis lying by the bed.

1:25:28 > 1:25:31But that feeling of nobody is here, it was right.

1:25:41 > 1:25:46# Sit there

1:25:49 > 1:25:52# Mm, count your fingers

1:25:54 > 1:25:56# What else

1:25:56 > 1:26:01# What else is there to do... #

1:26:04 > 1:26:09I was standing at a stove, boiling an egg or something.

1:26:09 > 1:26:11The radio said, "Janis Joplin..."

1:26:11 > 1:26:14And I knew before they got the last consonant in her name out

1:26:14 > 1:26:16that she was dead.

1:26:18 > 1:26:23# Count, oh, count your little fingers

1:26:23 > 1:26:25# My unhappy... #

1:26:28 > 1:26:31I wrote a telegram to Janis that says...

1:26:33 > 1:26:37"Really miss you. Things aren't the same alone.

1:26:38 > 1:26:40"Could meet you in Kathmandu any time,

1:26:40 > 1:26:43"but late October is the best season.

1:26:44 > 1:26:47"Love you, Momma. More than you know."

1:26:47 > 1:26:53# Oh, sit there... #

1:26:54 > 1:26:57I just fell apart. I just completely fell apart.

1:26:57 > 1:27:04She was in touch with her emotions and who she was in some way

1:27:04 > 1:27:07that nobody else that I knew was that in touch with.

1:27:07 > 1:27:11And to be that way, to try to get that, that's...

1:27:14 > 1:27:18That's the price you pay for doing that kind of art on that level,

1:27:18 > 1:27:20you know.

1:27:26 > 1:27:31"Dear Family. I'm awfully sorry to be such a disappointment to you,

1:27:31 > 1:27:34"but I really do think there's an awfully good chance

1:27:34 > 1:27:37"I won't blow it this time.

1:27:37 > 1:27:40"There's really nothing more I can say right now.

1:27:40 > 1:27:42"Guess I'll write more when I have more news.

1:27:42 > 1:27:47"Until then, address all criticism to the above address

1:27:47 > 1:27:52"and believe that you can't possibly want for me to be a winner

1:27:52 > 1:27:55"more than I do. Love, Janis."

1:27:56 > 1:28:01# Sit there

1:28:01 > 1:28:07# Go on, go on and count your fingers

1:28:07 > 1:28:15# Oh, no, what else, what else What else have you got to do

1:28:15 > 1:28:18# I know how you feel

1:28:18 > 1:28:21# And I know you ain't got no reason to go on

1:28:21 > 1:28:23# I know you feel that you must be through

1:28:23 > 1:28:27# Go on and sit right back down

1:28:27 > 1:28:31# Oh, won't you count Count your fingers

1:28:31 > 1:28:34# My unhappy

1:28:34 > 1:28:37# My unlucky

1:28:37 > 1:28:41# But my little Little girl blue

1:28:41 > 1:28:44# I know you're unhappy

1:28:44 > 1:28:46# Oh

1:28:46 > 1:28:49# Honey, I know

1:28:49 > 1:28:56# Babe, I know just how you feel. #